


To Go, Boldly

by ShadowsOffense



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, Fluff, Gen, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-24
Updated: 2014-01-24
Packaged: 2018-01-09 21:17:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1150883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowsOffense/pseuds/ShadowsOffense
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Star Fleet cadets Theta and Melete have an entirely logical friendship (with which logic has very little to do).</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Go, Boldly

She was Orion. She flirted with everyone as a cultural course of habit, just to see where she stood with them. As humans touched hands, or not, in greeting to display a tacit willingness towards cooperation, she assessed by teasing with words and coy looks. He did not engage in frivolous speculation about her sexual activities, although he was given to understand that she and Cadet Harkness were involved in some sort of friendly competition over numbers, but said sexual activity was not the primary purpose of her initial flirtatious displays. It was simply the framework that her culture had given her which, then enabled her to best and most precisely interpret her interactions with others. He considered it entirely logical and therefore paid it no more mind, although it flustered some of their less logical colleagues to observe her interactions with him. He did not see why. She did not take insult at his culturally instilled lack of flirtatiousness in his responses to her overtures so he was uncertain why their observers expected him to display prejudice about her own framework for communication. She was, in fact, quickly becoming one of his more valuable acquaintances and he considered himself fortunate to have the regard of such an extremely capable and fascinating individual.

If this meant that he, perhaps, allowed her greater liberties with touch and expression than he normally granted his acquaintances, he had a perfectly logical reason to do so.

It was, however, predictable that they attracted quite a bit of attention as she shouted his name in the quiet corridor outside of their midterm practicum and then proceeded to stalked towards him in a provocatively graceful fashion when he turned and paused to wait for her. 

He dismissed the slightly shocked stares of the other cadets in the hall as she rested a hand on the center of his chest and leaned forward until their faces were approximately 17.6 centimeters apart. 

“Sweetie,” she told him, ignoring their proximity and the five whispered comments it prompted in favor of giving him a droll look. “How about next time you stick to fixing the ship and I’ll fly her, hmm?”

“You are upset about the results of our joint simulation,” he deduced. 

“It was worth 20% of the exam,” she leaned another 5.4 centimeters closer, which was a common tactic to increase the intimacy of a conversation, but her stare was quite piercing. Furthermore, her objection was logical and the pinning gaze reminded him a great deal of the look the head of his family, Indris, had often given him during the period of his youth in which he had struggled with mastering emotional control. “So why don’t _you_ tell _me_ ,” she finished, completely serious, even disapproving, under her purring tone.

“I merely pointed out that the course you had chosen was unnecessarily lengthy,” he reminded her, dismissing the memory of Indris’ stare. His fingers curled around the hem of his opposite sleeve and he tugged it lightly, adjusting how the fabric sat against his wrist. “And made only minor corrections.”

“ _Unnecessary?!_ ” She jerked back from him, took two steps away, and then turned to face him again. He blinked at the sudden outburst of emotion, but observed with interest the way she used her abrupt motions to harmlessly expend some of the energy her annoyance appeared to have caused. He greatly preferred those gestures to the time she had slapped him. “Well, thanks to your “course corrections” we _crashed_ into a _blackhole!_ So tell me again what part of that extra distance was _unnecessary_?”

“Technically...”

“Don’t start.” She leveled a finger at him.

Considering that she knew the specific mechanics of their descent towards the simulated event horizon at least as well as he did, he obliged her request and did not finish his objection to her inaccurate turn of phrase. “Given our combined piloting skills,” he explained, instead. “The distance in the route I programmed should have been sufficient.” He paused, considering. “I had not anticipated the arrival of the Romulan ship, however.”

“It was a combat simulation, Sweetie. What part of combat did you not expect?”

He raised an eyebrow. “You did fire upon their vessel without waiting to attempt communications.” It had been both a violation of Starfleet protocols and ethically troubling. They had lost as large a percentage of their score for that as they had for their simulated deaths.

She smiled, her anger melting suddenly as he pointed out that she was as much to blame for their poor grade as he was. “I had plans for this weekend,” she said and he blinked at the abrupt shift in subject and mood.

“Are you not still able to complete them?” he inquired, wondering about the connection between the two matters. He was sure there was one. He also wondered about her shift in mood, but his puzzlement in this matter was expected. Her mood was something he had struggled to predict since the course of their first meeting and this particular interaction seemed to be giving him greater difficulties than even his normally unimpressive efforts.

“Well, we can’t just let that grade stand!” 

Ah. “You wish to repeat the simulation?” He was fairly certain this was the case, but did not want to assume. He considered her proposal as he waited for her confirmation so that he could have an answer for her should his conclusion prove to be correct. Of course repeating a test was an option given to any student, but theirs had not, technically, been a failing grade. Despite their abrupt entrance into combat and the subsequent destruction of their vessel, they had managed to non-fatally disable the enemy ship and send both the intelligence Starfleet had required, as well as the third (holographic) member of their away team to safety. Furthermore, their decision to remain behind on the shuttle rather than risk a second and third transport beam that much closer to the gravity well had resulted in a rather interesting attempt at survival. After the events of Nero, it had been proven that it was possible to navigate through the distortions of a black hole and into an alternate universe, although the likelihood of surviving said attempt was infinitesimally small. The simulation had no way to predict what the true result of their choice would have been and, although their flight instructor had used the word “impossible” multiple times in a single sentence, Theta was certain their simulation would become the source of heated debate in the larger scientific community.

It had been, quiet frankly, brilliant. He considered it another example of just how well he and Melete worked together and complimented one another; alone, neither of them would have arrived at the solution in time to enact it. However, none of that changed the low marks their instructor had placed in their records.

“You don’t?” she responded to his spoken question knowingly, raising her own eyebrow.

“No, you are correct. I, too, find myself dissatisfied with merely a passing grade.”

“That’s what I thought.” She reached out and brushed her fingers though the hair over his forehead before spinning away with a laugh as he regarded her placidly. Sometimes he believed she derived enjoyment from provoking their audience, although he failed to see why. 

“See you tomorrow!” she called casually over her shoulder as she departed, with an absent wave of her hand. 

Bemused, he watched her retreat.

She was one of the most logical individuals he had ever met and also one of the most emotional. It was a fascinating contradiction.

He found he was very much anticipating tomorrow’s retaking of their exam despite the fact that it was a Saturday and that it would therefore mean the delay of his own plans for cultural enrichment over the weekend. Time spent with her, he was continuing to find, would be a much more enriching experience anyway.


End file.
